A New Superintendent This Week

This should be an interesting week for the Belmont Public Schools. The School Committee will appoint an interim superintendent to replace the returning-to-Maine Dr George Entwistle. On Monday night, June 6, SC will interview  and debate and then vote to appoint one at their Tuesday, June 14 meeting.

(Disclosures: 1: I know Mike through my years on the SC, and I like him a lot, professionally and personally. I have never met Dr Kingston. 2: I have a 7th grader, so I want BHS to be solid come September 2012.)

I can see positives in each of the finalists. Dr Harvey is obviously solid and knows Belmont well (including the kids, parents, staff, and politics). With him, we know what we're getting. The thing (I think the only thing) that makes me worry, in the short-term, if he is the choice, is that it would leave a gigantic leadership hole at BHS.  The more long-serving of the assistant principals, Dan Richards, .  That's definitely an excellent step on his career path. The other assistant principal is new this school year, and I don't know much about her. (The previous one, Layne Millington, left last year to become principal in Swampscott.) The school system has had "rolling blackouts" of the curriculum directors, so there is not a large pipeline of administrators at the ready in BHS.  (I stole the "blackouts" term from Dr Entwistle's. Over the past 5 years, we've gone for a year in some departments without a director (after retirements), where various staff scramble to cover that function. A curriculum director only has some overlap of skill set with principals, and I'm not sure any would want that job, even as interim.

Dr Kingston is the outgoing superintendent from Chelsea. He would surely bring some vastly different perspective and ideas to Belmont. I'd bet some would be quite interesting and helpful, some not relevant. A dose of the "real" world? He'd probably be excellent for breaking from a long-serving superintendent, which is not the case in Belmont. With Dr Entwistle only being here two years, we've had our break from the 20 years of Peter Holland's leadership (and one with Pat Aubin, providing continuity as interim). He would be here only for a year, where a more involved search would start next winter for a permanent superintendent. (Right, none are "permanent.") He'd start completely fresh, with no pre-conceptions or baggage.

If Dr Harvey is the choice and works out well, we (the SC, that is) could appoint him permanently. A "try before you buy" situation. Career-wise, one might think he'd want to eventually move on after some number of years in Belmont. (He has already been teacher and curriculum director here.) That's fine. The average tenure of superintendents in Mass is less than four years. If any superintendent gives us 5-10 and leaves us in a better place, we've done very well. If not chosen, I'm sure he'll be looking for a superintendent spot outside Belmont, a natural career progression.

From what I can tell, I like elements of each candidate. I'm lucky enough to be on the outside for this search, having been on the SC for George's. Choosing a superintendent is a difficult task, and the school superintendent is the most important job in Belmont.

Please, School Committee, choose wisely.